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El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser is calling for a full report on the city's attempt to fire its financial advisers and hire a new firm, which an El Paso Times investigation found was pushed by a City Council member who was touting a former business associate.

"To ensure that I have all of the facts and can respond to questions and concerns from our community, I am requesting that the city manager prepare a full report and chronology of events concerning the solicitation for a new financial adviser," Leeser said in a statement.

"I want to know who is responsible, and I believe the information I am requesting will enable City Council to hold individuals accountable for their actions, if necessary," Leeser said.

Leeser did not respond to requests for comment on why he was asking City Manager Tommy Gonzalez, who authorized the solicitation for a new financial adviser, to oversee a report on that action.

A Times investigation found that West-Central city Rep. Larry Romero began pushing city officials to hire Estrada Hinojosa and Co. of Dallas shortly after being elected to office in 2013, without disclosing his ties to the company.

The El Paso Times discovered a 2014 audio recording in which Noe Hinojosa, the president and chief executive officer of Estrada Hinojosa, told the Canutillo Independent School District board during a presentation of his company's financial services that he and Romero were former business associates. The Canutillo board awarded the company the contract.

Hinojosa told the Times he had worked with Romero in the 1990s, when they tried to get into the government bond industry in El Paso.

Romero has not responded to multiple requests for comment. He issued a statement to Channel 7-KVIA Monday criticizing the Times, but he didn't address any allegations in the Times' story.

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City Rep. Larry Romero(Photo: El Paso Times file photo)

City officials began looking to replace its financial advisers in April, more than two years before the current contract with First Southwest was set to end and without first going to the City Council for direction or approval, according to documents obtained by the Times. The decision was approved by City Manager Gonzalez and Chief Financial Officer Mark Sutter.

City administrators in September were recommending that the city fire First Southwest and hire Estrada Hinojosa, but backed away from that plan by Oct. 1, according to emails obtained by the Times.

Members of the City Council who were reached Tuesday evening said that they back the mayor's decision because the matter raised concerns regarding whether the proper procedures were followed, as well as issues of transparency and ethics.

"There are many unanswered questions as to why the city went through a bidding process for another financial adviser, without council or public knowledge, then abruptly halted the process without a clear explanation," East-Valley city Rep. Claudia Ordaz said via email.

"I believe the mayor is pursuing the right course of action in requesting a full report; however, I believe these circumstances warrant an external review that is independent of the city and the Financial Oversight Advisory Committee," Ordaz said.

East-Central city Rep Emma Acosta, who sits on the City Council's Financial and Audit Oversight Committee with Romero, also supported a deeper look into the matter.

“I don’t see that it would hurt anything,” Acosta said. “Let’s just finish shedding the light on this.”

The results of the report requested by Leeser could help prevent anything like this from happening again, she said. Acosta said this is an example of why the city’s ethics ordinance needs to be updated.

The City Council will have a special meeting Monday to review the city’s ethics ordinance to include a general review of the charter provisions, city ordinances, state statutes and the recent work by the ethics commission.

“I didn’t know who he (Romero) worked for before,” Acosta said. “Maybe this is something we need to put in there: to include all of our affiliations from the past.”

The Times investigation also found that Acosta received $1,000 in contributions for her movies in the park series from Estrada Hinojosa. The money was solicited by lobbyist and former County Commissioner Carlos Aguilar III, who was accused in court testimony in 2012 of soliciting bribes for former County Judge Anthony Cobos. Aguilar was never charged.

Acosta said she had “no idea” why Aguilar was soliciting on her behalf.

Northeast city Rep. Carl Robinson said that the matter deserves to be looked into further. “We don’t know what the facts are, but I do agree that it should be reviewed by the ethics committee regarding the allegations that are being made.”

East Side city Rep. Dr. Michiel Noe said, "I back the mayor 100 percent. There’s a little too much information out there that it is worth looking into.”